An eye exam allows the optometrist to do the following in order to make sure your eyes are at their healthiest:
    • Determine any relevant prescription for your eyes (long or short-sighted, astigmatic, presbyopic).
    • Check the muscles in the eyes to make sure they are functioning properly.
    • Check your eye health and screen for any associated general health problems.
    • Perform any further testing as deemed necessary like eye pressures, visual fields, colour vision or pupil dilation

Before you are visited with one of our 2020 optometrists, you will experience an electronic pre-test, which involves looking into an instrument showing a target in the distance. This target, which is generally a balloon, goes in and out of focus. In this process, the curvatures of your corneas (front part of the eye), the distance between your eyes, and the best estimate of your prescription are measured.

This shows how steep or flat the fronts of your eyes are. This data is sent directly to the optometrist's computerized sight-test equipment in their consulting room. Furthermore, should you wish to try contact lenses, this is instantly possible since your corneal curvatures have already been measured.

At 2020, we believe that everyone should receive the benefits of a thorough health check of the back of their eyes. This is why we were the first store to have provided the Optomap Retinal Scan as part of our standard eye exam.

To take your Optomap, you will be asked to look into a scanning instrument at a spot of green surrounded by a circle of red. When the red circle is seen, the Optomap photo is taken in under a second. This photo allows us to view much more of the retina compared to conventional methods and extends the area seen to about 200 degrees. Optomap can also detect early signs of both eye-related and general health related problems, such as Diabetic Retinopathy, Hypertension (High Blood Pressure), and Age Related Macular Degeneration (AMD).

This is the bit where you meet your 2020 optometrist, who will ask you questions to establish reasons for your visit and what symptoms you may be experiencing with your eyes. An inquiry into your general health, medications taken, family health and eye history are quite normal and essential as many factors can affect your eyes. Your prescription will then be determined after the data from the electronic pre-test has been entered into the computerized testing unit, which is also known as a phoropter.

You will also look at a succession of test charts through various lenses placed into the unit, which will determine whether you are long-sighted, short-sighted, astigmatic, presbyopic, or a combination of these. The equipment also enables us to check your eye muscles to make sure they are working together properly. Using an ophthalmoscope and a microscope, our optometrists can assess your eye health all the way from the back to the front.

Extra tests like Depth Perception, Colour Vision, and Visual Fields may be required and your optometrist will inform you if this is necessary.

At the end of the consultation your optometrist will discuss your sight and eye health with you as well as all the options available if treatment is required. Please feel free to ask your 2020 optometrist anything, as it is our aim that you leave feeling reassured and happy!

2020 uses a non-contact Tonometer, which measures eye pressure. It works by allowing a gentle puff of air onto the front of your eye, which changes the shape very briefly. At a certain level of shape change, the instrument is calibrated to represent a certain level of pressure. By means of a system of lights, it measures how long it takes for your eye to change to the calibrated shape. This time taken is proportional to your eye pressure. It then does a math trick and out pops your eye pressure reading in a matter of seconds! As it is a non-contact instrument it is completely sterile and no risk of infection exists at all. The eye pressure test is part of our standard eye exam and is performed on all patients.

At 2020, our visual field tests are similar to a fun game of space invaders. The only difference is that you have to keep your eye in one place the whole time. Each time you think you see a spot of light you will hit a button. The purpose of field-testing is to check your peripheral vision, which may be affected in some cases.

The most common eye condition causing field loss is Chronic Glaucoma. Sometimes more serious conditions like pituitary tumors may be caught by having a field test. In this case, the field test could be a lifesaver.